The Penthouse by Niraj Sharma – Review

Reading crime thriller novels has been my forte and I have been through many novels with a hope that I will get something that will compel me into a posture of thinking – was the hate necessary? Recently, I have been through a novel written by Niraj Sharma, an Indian author living in Canada, The Penthouse. The novel has been published in India by Ashvamegh Publication and this shows that Niraj has his attention on the Indian readers and his gesture is truly appreciable. However, what’s inside the novel? What are the major features? What is the best thing in it? Who should be the ideal readers to read this novel? I will try to touch all these aspects in my book review today and I am sure that my review will be different from others posted on leading Indian book review website.

The novel is about an Italian youth with abundant ambition who enters into the world of crime and narcotics with an aim to earn more money. Though he makes money more than he could ever imagine, his expectations go on increasing and he is sent by his boss to America with a team of criminals to expand the business there. In the USA, he succeeds and earns more than enough to buy a penthouse for himself but also makes many new enemies in the process. He does not know that the ones he thinks to be his friends are his enemies in disguise and they could harm him.

Vito’s life is soothed by the presence of Alicia, a girl who comes into his life and eventually becomes his wife in the course of the novel. Moreover, it is Alicia’s presence that forces Vito to rethink about his life as a criminal and the duality in which he keeps others guessing. He lies to his parents; he lies to Alicia; he lies to himself. Eventually, when he thinks of quitting the life of crime, he faces too many troubles and that makes the conclusion interesting enough to be followed by the readers.

On the technical side, the novel has been written in continuity and there are no subplots developing rather than the main plot which is fairly straight and does not have many twists other than the ones at the end. In a fair and square narrative, loaded with simple language, the novelist tries to try the life of Vito Ricci, the emerging crime lord who poses as a real-estate developer and betrays his own conscience day by day. Violence and criminal episodes run through the novel and intensify towards the end. For the readers of crime thriller novels, Niraj Sharma’s piece will be a treat to read if they have the patience to cope with its slow pace at the beginning. Moreover, the novel also deviates from the usual path that the best crime thriller novelists in India often follow. It enters into the psyche of the criminal – Vito – and tries to bring out the elements that most of the novelists often ignore. So, it will have two layers – one for the general readers and one for the experts.

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Review by a contributor to The Book Blog